Costume Quality Guide

Heaven Costumes Product Quality Guide

Here at Heaven Costumes, we carry a vast range of different brands so we can offer you the biggest costume range in Australia. All costumes come pre-packaged straight from our suppliers so they are all brand new for you to wear. Given we sell so many different brands at so many different price points, we thought we'd help you by giving them a quality rank. Find out below what we use to determine the quality of a costume:

Material quality – ranges from low quality purpose made fabrics that could not be used for any other purpose, and are only suitable for costumes, not everyday clothing. Up to quality fabrics that could also be used to manufacture street-wear clothing.

Quality of sewing  - ranges from sewn together with the intention of being worn only 1 time with no attention to finishing edges (unsewn) or very little attention to edges (only over-locked to prevent the fabric from ‘fraying’ or falling apart), to properly finished seams and edges and use of regular clothing techniques that take longer but achieve a higher quality finish.

Quality of trims –these can be printed on, or very low quality designed to last only 1 wear, to higher quality decorations that could be used in regular everyday clothing or dancewear standard.

Use of closures - in the lower quality costumes this can mean that cheap alternatives to buttons and zippers are used such as tie-up instead. Velcro can be used in cheaper costumes though it can also be used in appropriate ways in higher quality costumes.

Use of shortcuts – rarely in costuming are full outfits actually made (such as pirates with full shirt, coat, long pants, boots etc), however there is a big difference between the way a low quality and high quality costume is made. Cheaper short-cuts can include printed front of costumes that tie behind the back or a front of a shirt that is attached to the inside of the jacket so that there is no shirt 'back'.

Back of costume - Lower quality costumes have backs that are not necessarily in theme or finished in the same way as the front- such as flapper dresses with fringes only on the front. Read each description - we always mention if this is the case.

Please note: Some of the time, price does not necessarily reflect the quality, the price is determined by:

• Licensing – licensed products are more expensive because a license needs to be purchased for each country of sale
• Brand – different brands have different associated costs, some brands also feel their name is worth a premium, and so they charge higher wholesale prices
• Size of brand – smaller brands make smaller quantities of a costume so the price of each will be higher – mass produced products are often a lot lower in price 
• Distance – products shipped from USA have high associated shipping costs, where as products directly from China have lower shipping costs
• Number of businesses involved from design through to retail - many brands have manufacturers, importers, and distributors as well as the actual brand company that must be paid before the product is ready for retail. Only 1 brand we hold differs from this - that is Heaven Costumes. It is our brand so we are the brand, the importer and retailer so the prices are lower and quality is usually very high.

 

Costumes Ranking

	Budget	Moderate	High	Deluxe
Material quality	Cheap fabrics - disposable	Lower quality - costuming fabrics	Good quality costume fabrics	More towards street wear quality
Quality of sewing	Raw unsewn edges	Over-locked but not hemmed edges	Hemmed edges	Hemmed edges
Quality of trims	Often printed on - low quality	Low quality trims, some printing possible	Good quality decorations - decorations not printed	Up to regular clothing quality
Use of closures	Velcro and tie-up often used	Some velcro and ties, some buttons and zips	Usually buttons and zips	Buttons and zippers
Use of shortcuts	Frequent	Some are used	Rarely - and done very well if used	Never
Fit	Usually one size or limited sizes - fit is very general	Sometimes sized - often stretchy/ flexible/adjustable	Usually sized to fit properly - can run small or big. Occasionally, one size if very flexible	Usually sized to fit properly - can run small or big. Occasionally, one size if very flexible
Back of costume	Frequently very plain without decoration or theming	Sometimes plain without the theme of the front	Usually follows the theme of the costume	Usually follows the theme of the costume

 

Caring for your costumes

Exposing your costumes to the harsh rituals of a washing machine is not a good idea, despite the quality! Even though some costumes are of a deluxe quality with great fabrics being used, they are still 'costumes' and should be treated as such! Costumes are never manufactured to withstand the same wear or cleaning processes as you would expect from everyday clothing, as this is not the intended purpose of a costume. Costumes are not designed to be worn on a daily basis like clothing is, so naturally the overall integrity of the product will generally not meet the same standard as clothing that can be washed over and over again. If your costume has been marked or soiled, we recommend gently spot cleaning only by wiping or dabbing the area with a slightly moistened cloth or sponge. Higher quality costumes may be hand washed in lukewarm water. Due to the nature and purpose of costumes, we cannot guarantee the original quality will uphold if the costume has undergone any form of cleaning process, nor will we be held responsible for any damage caused to costumes that have been washed.